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Eleider Alvarez Knew When to Go to the ‘McIntosh’ to Shock Kovalev

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McIntosh

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – Until late Saturday night, most people probably knew McIntosh as the Binghampton, N.Y.-based manufacturer of high-end audio equipment. After underdog Eleider Alvarez’s no-doubt-about-it, seventh-round knockout of WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, however, it might also stand for the concussive sound of punches to the jaw, as loud and unmistakable as the riffs of the late, great Keith Moon, the wild ’n’ crazy drummer who helped make The Who one of the best rock bands ever to take the stage.

References to musicians, like Moon, who flashed across the night sky like comets and then vanished into the memories of  their fans seem especially appropriate given the venue for Kovalev-Alvarez, the first fight card held at the newly refurbished Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, the former Trump Taj Mahal which shone like a diamond after a $500 million transformation. Gone are the massive chandeliers and India-themed accoutrements that marked its previous incarnation; in are electric guitars and drum kits used by a phalanx of Grammy Award winners who topped the charts for however long they were able to keep their sound fresh and in demand, and their bodies capable of holding up to the demands of a relentless, wearying lifestyle.

After he was sent crashing to the canvas three times in that fateful seventh round, the possibility now appears to be very real that the 35-year-old Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 KOs) may have run out of the kind of smash hits he used to deliver instead of taking. The “Krusher” from Russia now has lost three of his five most recent bouts, including stoppages by Andre Ward and Alvarez, a career slump marked by an alarming tendency to lose energy and power into the middle rounds.

“I think Sergey tends to run out of gas after six rounds,” said Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s promoter. “That seemed to be the magic round with Ward, too. He did great for six rounds and then faltered. I assume he got tired.”

Although Kovalev has a rematch clause that he and his support team could enforce sooner rather than later, Duva hinted that their guy might be better served to take some time off to consider his options. That could open the door for Colombia-born, Montreal-based Alvarez – finally a star, if only temporarily – to proceed to a unification showdown with another Russian, Dmitry Bivol (14-0, 11 KOs), who retained his WBA 175-pound title with a workmanlike unanimous decision over Isaac Chilemba (25-6-2, 10 KOs) in the first half of the HBO-televised doubleheader. Other holders of alphabet light heavyweight straps are the WBC’s Adonis Stevenson (29-1-1, 24 KOs) and still another Russian, the IBF’s Artur Beterbiev (12-0, 12 KOs).

For his part, Bivol expressed disappointment that countryman Kovalev, a 1-to-6 favorite in Atlantic City’s newly opened sports books, had lost, and not just for reasons of nationalistic pride.

“My team had negotiations regarding Kovalev being my next fight, to unify the championship,” Bivol noted. “Sergey was a great champion. It’s unfortunate that he lost the title, but I would want the same opportunity to have a unification in December as discussed. If it’s Alvarez, I would be happy to fight Alvarez.”

Alvarez also would be happy to fight someone, anyone, for a unified title, although he doesn’t expect it to be Stevenson, for whom he somehow was the mandatory challenger for three years without ever getting a shot at the brass ring. It’s no wonder he and his advisers fairly jumped at the chance to get it on with Kovalev, who, if what they say is to be believed, appeared to be increasingly vulnerable for the same reasons that had worried Duva.

“We saw a couple of things, not only in the Ward fights but in other Kovalev fights,” said Alvarez’s trainer, Marc Ramsay. “We knew at the beginning of the fight that Kovalev was going to be dangerous. But we were ready to let some rounds go because our game plan was to bring Kovalev into the second part of the fight and go a little more physically with him. It worked.”

Through the mid-point of the scheduled 12-rounder, the Alvarez plan – the key component of which was the strategic deployment of a combination Ramsay had dubbed “the McIntosh” – probably seemed successful only in the minds of fighter and trainer. Kovalev was up on all three official scorecards, 59-55 on those submitted by Joseph Pasquale and Lynne Carter and 58-56 on Carlos Ortiz Jr.’s, and he had a big round in the fourth, when he landed 25 of 60 non-jabs (power punches) according to CompuBox. But, as Ramsay had anticipated, even then Kovalev’s vaunted arsenal was being downgraded to small-arms fire.

“I knew it would be a tough fight, and it was a tough fight,” Alvarez said. “But the game plan was working exactly as we wanted it to. After the sixth round, Marc told me to fight Kovalev on the inside. He saw that Kovalev didn’t have the same power as in the beginning of the fight. I threw a certain combination we call `the McIntosh’ and that was the end of the fight.

According to Ramsay, the so-called McIntosh is not really a secret, previously unused weapon he had Alvarez pull out of his trick bag. “The `McIntosh’ comes from a fight where Eleider knocked (he didn’t specify the opponent) out a couple of years ago,” he said. “it’s a jab to the body and a right hand over the top.”

So why “McIntosh”? Why not “Apple” or “Microsoft”?

“If I say `McIntosh,’ the other guy has no idea what I’m talking about,” Ramsay explained.

In the corner prior to round seven, Ramsay told Alvarez to put the full Mac on a presumably wilting Kovalev, who had fired most of his remaining bullets in the fourth round that hadn’t resulted in the knockout he so clearly was seeking.

“I tried it a lot, but I told Marc I needed one more time,” Alvarez said of the combo that will be the talk of boxing until, well, it isn’t. “I wanted to knock him out (after the first knockdown, which clearly had deposited Kovalev into the danger zone) because he might be too tough afterward. I knew that he was hurt and I went for the kill.”

Referee David Fields would have been justified had he waved the fight off after Kovalev went down a second time, arising on legs as shaky as those of a newborn fawn, but he allowed the champion one more opportunity to fight his way out of deepening trouble. Alvarez did not let him off the hook, once more McIntoshing Kovalev into a horizontal plane as emphatically as possible. The end came after an elapsed time of 2 minutes, 45 seconds.

Should Kovalev have reached the end of his heady run as a top 10 pound-for-pound kind of fighter, the more compelling question might be whether Alvarez is ready to try on his vanquished foe’s shoes to see if they’re a comfortable fit. He wouldn’t be the first fighter of fairly recent vintage to become an overnight sensation; think Thailand’s Srisasket Sor Rungvisai, the junior bantamweight who burst into instant prominence as the result of back-to-back victories over Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez. For those who care to reach further back in history, remember that James Toney was a 20-1 underdog and was far behind on points when he dethroned IBF middleweight champion James Toney with the sort of late explosion that Alvarez laid on Kovalev. But for every fighter who legitimizes himself with the sort of exclamation-point victory that Alvarez is now enjoying, there are others who rose to the occasion and just as quickly slipped from prominence.

“It was a great performance by Eleider. Tonight a star was born,” said Yvon Michel, who promotes Alvarez. “I said beforehand that after this fight, you all will know who Eleider is.

“We always said the fight will be decided the way that Eleider laid the trap for the punches that would ensnare Kovalev.”

So salute “The McIntosh,” the fight game’s flavor of the moment. Salute, too, the 34-year-old Alvarez, who waited and waited for a chance to demonstrate to the world that he really is what he always has claimed to be, which is a fighter whose light too long has been hidden under a basket of anonymity.

Also deserving of plaudits are the Hard Rock, which sold all 5,600 of its seats in the Etess Arena in a glorious return not only to the venue, but to Atlantic City, which might soon be enjoying its own rebirth as a destination fight town after long years of neglect.

“We’re back,” a saddened Duva said, looking for positives in a night that didn’t have many for Team Kovalev. “The city’s back. From that aspect we had a wonderful night.”

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

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Najee Lopez Steps up in Class and Wins Impressively at Plant City

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Garry Jonas’ ProBox series returned to its regular home in Plant City, Florida, tonight with a card topped by a 10-round light heavyweight match between fast-rising Najee Lopez and former world title challenger Lenin Castillo. This was considered a step-up fight for the 25-year-old Lopez, an Atlanta-born-fighter of Puerto Rican heritage. Although the 36-year-old Castillo had lost two of his least three heading in, he had gone the distance with Dimitry Bivol and Marcus Browne and been stopped only once (by Callum Smith).

Lopez landed the cleaner punches throughout. Although Castillo seemed unfazed during the first half of the fight, he returned to his corner at the end of round five exhibiting signs of a fractured jaw.

In the next round, Lopez cornered him against the ropes and knocked him through the ropes with a left-right combination. Referee Emil Lombardo could have stopped the fight right there, but he allowed the courageous Castillo to carry on for a bit longer, finally stopping the fight as Castillo’s corner and a Florida commissioner were signaling that it was over.

The official time was 2:36 of round six. Bigger fights await the talented Lopez who improved to 13-0 with his tenth win inside the distance. Castillo declined to 25-7-1.

Co-Feature

In a stinker of a heavyweight fight, Stanley Wright, a paunchy, 34-year-old North Carolina journeyman, scored a big upset with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jeremiah Milton.

Wright carried 280 pounds, 100 pounds more than in his pro debut 11 years ago. Although he was undefeated (13-0, 11 KOs), he had never defeated an opponent with a winning record and his last four opponents were a miserable 19-48-2. Moreover, he took the fight on short notice.

What Wright had going for him was fast hands and, in the opening round, he put Milton on the canvas with a straight right hand. From that point, Milton fought tentatively and Wright, looking fatigued as early as the fourth round, fought only in spurts. It seemed doubtful that he could last the distance, but Milton, the subject of a 2021 profile in these pages, was wary of Wright’s power and unable to capitalize. “It’s almost as if Milton is afraid to win,” said ringside commentator Chris Algieri during the ninth stanza when the bout had devolved into a hugfest.

The judges had it 96-93 and 97-92 twice for the victorious Wright who boosted his record to 14-0 without improving his stature.

Also

In the TV opener, a 10-round contest in the junior middleweight division, Najee Lopez stablemate Darrelle Valsaint (12-0, 10 KOs) scored his career-best win with a second-round knockout of 35-year-old Dutch globetrotter Stephen Danyo (23-7-3).

A native Floridian of Haitian descent, the 22-year-old Valsaint was making his eighth start in Plant City. He rocked Danyo with a chopping right hand high on the temple and then, as Danyo slumped forward, delivered the coup-de-gras, a short left uppercut. The official time was 2:17 of round two.

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Japanese Superstar Naoya Inoue is Headed to Vegas after KOing Ye Joon Kim

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Japan’s magnificent Naoya Inoue, appearing in his twenty-fourth title fight, scored his 11th straight stoppage tonight while successfully defending his unified super bantamweight title, advancing his record to 29-0 (26 KOs) at the expense of Ye Joon Kim. The match at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came to an end at the 2:25 mark of round four when U.S. referee Mark Nelson tolled “10” over the brave but overmatched Korean.

Kim, raised in a Seoul orphanage, had a few good moments, but the “Monster” found his rhythm in the third round, leaving Kim with a purplish welt under his left eye. In the next frame, he brought the match to a conclusion, staggering the Korean with a left and then finishing matters with an overhand right that put Kim on the seat of his pants, dazed and wincing in pain.

Kim, who brought a 21-2-2 record, took the fight on 10 days’ notice, replacing Australia’s Sam Goodman who suffered an eye injury in sparring that never healed properly, forcing him to withdraw twice.

Co-promoter Bob Arum, who was in the building, announced that Inoue’s next fight would happen in Las Vegas in the Spring. Speculation centers on Mexico City’s Alan Picasso (31-0-1, 17 KOs) who is ranked #1 by the WBC. However, there’s also speculation that the 31-year-old Inoue may move up to featherweight and seek to win a title in a fifth weight class, in which case a potential opponent is the winner of the Feb. 2 match between Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton. In “olden days,” this notion would have been dismissed as the Japanese superstar and Figueroa/Fulton have different promoters, but the arrival of Turki Alalshikh, the sport’s Daddy Warbucks, has changed the dynamic. Tonight, Naoya Inoue made his first start as a brand ambassador for Riyadh Season.

Simmering on the backburner is a megafight with countryman Junto Nakatani, an easy fight to make as Arum has ties to both. However, the powers-that-be would prefer more “marination.”

Inoue has appeared twice in Las Vegas, scoring a seventh-round stoppage of Jason Moloney in October of 2020 at the MGM Bubble and a third-round stoppage of Michael Dasmarinas at the Virgin Hotels in June of 2021.

Semi-wind-up

In a 12-round bout for a regional welterweight title, Jin Sasaki improved to 19-1-1 (17) with a unanimous decision over Shoki Sakai (29-15-3). The scores were 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.

Also

In a bout in which both contestants were on the canvas, Toshiki Shimomachi (20-1-3) edged out Misaki Hirano (11-2), winning a majority decision. A 28-year-old Osaka southpaw with a fan-friendly style, the lanky Shimomachi, unbeaten in his last 22 starts, competes as a super bantamweight. A match with Inoue may be in his future.

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Eric Priest Wins Handily on Thursday’s Golden Boy card at the Commerce Casino

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Model turned fighter Eric Priest jabbed and jolted his way into the super middleweight rankings with a shutout decision win over veteran Tyler Howard on Thursday.

In his first main event Priest (15-0, 8 KOs) proved ready for contender status by defusing every attack Tennessee’s Howard (20-3, 11 KOs) could muster at Commerce Casino, the second fight in six days at the LA County venue.

All ticket monies collected on the Folden Boy Promotions card were contributed to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation as they battle wildfires sprouting all over Los Angeles County due to high winds.

Priest, 26, had never fought anyone near Howard’s caliber but used a ramrod jab to keep the veteran off-balance and unable to muster a forceful counter-attack. Round after round the Korean-American fighter pumped left jabs while circling his opposition.

Though hit with power shots, none seemed to faze Howard but his own blows were unable to put a dent in Priest. After 10 rounds of the same repetitive action all three judges scored the fight 100-90 for Priest who now wins a regional super middleweight title.

Priest also joins the top 15 rankings of the WBA organization.

In a fight between evenly matched middleweights, Jordan Panthen (11-0, 9 KOs) remained undefeated after 10 rounds versus DeAundre Pettus (12-4, 7 KOs). Though equally skilled, Panthen simply out-worked the South Caroliina fighter to win by unanimous decision. No knockdowns were scored.

Other Bouts

Grant Flores (8-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Costa Rica’s David Lobo Ramirez (17-4, 12 KOs) with two successive right uppercuts at 2:59 of the second round of the super welterweight fight.

Cayden Griffith (3-0, 3 KOs) used a left hook to the body to stop Mark Misiura at 1:43 of the second round in a super welterweight bout.

Jordan Fuentes (3-0) floored Brandon Badillo (0-3-1) in the third round and proceeded to win by decision after four rounds in a super bantamweight fight.

A super featherweight match saw Leonardo Sanchez (8-0) win by decision over Joseph Cruz Brown (10-12) after six rounds.

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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